Does anyone else kinda feel bad for JcPenney, or do they deserve the abuse?

[Triumph]

You want to talk about ruining their brand name, let's start discussing Sears and the Craftsman sellout. Even hand tools are now being made overseas. I'm talking combination wrenches. I was shopping for toolboxes last year. The Craftsman stuff is absolute garbage. Yes they are having to compete with Harbor Freight, but if I'm going to be buying made in China garbage, then I'm not going to pay Sears prices. And the funny thing is, the HF toolboxes are actually REALLY good. Their orange boxes are easily on par with Craftsman's top of the line boxes.

Their penny pinching executives decided they needed to dumb down their products in order to compete on price. It made sense to them somewhere in the math. But they forgot to include in the proper value for the Craftsman name when doing the calculations. Now they are shit. I'll head to HF or craigslist the next time I need a tool.

 

[OverVolt]

when getting my mom a watch for xmas i figured out what the total discount at kohl's was. something like 70% off the marked price. then i went to amazon and found the same model watch for another $20 off. not a sale or anything.

So you saved 1% and had to wait for shipping :awe:

I'm jk, I really like kohls. Nothing can really replace watch or jewelry shopping in person. You used kohls as a showroom

 

[DrPizza]

when getting my mom a watch for xmas i figured out what the total discount at kohl's was. something like 70% off the marked price. then i went to amazon and found the same model watch for another $20 off. not a sale or anything.

That's the thing though - the majority of their customers will be thinking, "yeah, I know that they mark them up. But, 70% off - they couldn't possibly be going lower than that." And, Kohl's makes a profit. Sell that watch for $% less, and not have a percent off discount, and a lot of people who don't know a lot of details about what they're shopping for will be convinced that it's just a cheap watch.

 

[compuwiz1]

I haven't bought anything in a mall or retail store for about 3 years, except for groceries and a few must have immediately items, like solder, glue, wood, ammunition & long shelf life supplies for the bunker. Other than those things, I pretty much buy everything online.

 

[rockyct]

I really don't like Kohl's discount obsession so I was hoping JCP's strategy would have at least not been a colossal failure. I shop for clothes when I need them, not when I get a coupon book in the mail. I wish JCP actually had a store close to me or I would have gone there, but if they're going to be another Kohl's, it doesn't even matter anymore.

 

[PingSpike]

You want to talk about ruining their brand name, let's start discussing Sears and the Craftsman sellout. Even hand tools are now being made overseas. I'm talking combination wrenches. I was shopping for toolboxes last year. The Craftsman stuff is absolute garbage. Yes they are having to compete with Harbor Freight, but if I'm going to be buying made in China garbage, then I'm not going to pay Sears prices. And the funny thing is, the HF toolboxes are actually REALLY good. Their orange boxes are easily on par with Craftsman's top of the line boxes.

Their penny pinching executives decided they needed to dumb down their products in order to compete on price. It made sense to them somewhere in the math. But they forgot to include in the proper value for the Craftsman name when doing the calculations. Now they are shit. I'll head to HF or craigslist the next time I need a tool.

They didn't forget anything. They made the stock price go up in the short term by selling cheap garbage at high markup by leveraging an established brand name that commanded the higher price. Yes, in the mid to long term the brand name will be destroyed and damage the company's reputation with an entire generation of customers. But they will have retired or been forced out with a golden parachute by then and already have sold all the stock they were given before the chickens came home to roost.

 

[lxskllr]

They didn't forget anything. They made the stock price go up in the short term by selling cheap garbage at high markup by leveraging an established brand name that commanded the higher price. Yes, in the mid to long term the brand name will be destroyed and damage the company's reputation with an entire generation of customers. But they will have retired or been forced out with a golden parachute by then and already have sold all the stock they were given before the chickens came home to roost.

and people question why I dislike buying from publicly traded companies...

 

[brandonb]

They deserve the abuse.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenny-block/jcpenney-june-book-gay-dads_b_1556680.html

When you market to just 1% of the population. You will get 1% of the sales. Good job JCPenny!

 

[Sonikku]

Gee... maybe you can start by inspecting the factories that your new products are made in before making a major investment in them? You would think that would be a given after the Apple/Foxconn PR debacle.

Bringing shoddy buildings up to code costs money. As does paying employees more than a dollar a day. If they wanted to deal with all that bogged down American "Regulation" bullshit, they'd have just set up shop here instead.

 

[zerocool84]

Here in California, every JCPenny is getting a makeover, flooring, walls, ever since the CEO change, they started redoing all the stores here.

 

[alkemyst]

You are why decent stores go out of business. Unlike Walmart, JCPenny's clothes are heavily discounted.
For example, the same pair of Docker's khaki's I like are 36 bucks everyday at Penny's. It beats Kohl's typical price and their sales price. Same for Van Heusen shirts.

Now, since they hired their previous jack-ass, that no longer applies. They are trying to beat Kohl's and others by imitating them. My incentive to JCP isn't so much any more.

However, I love the layout of the new JCP.

And I agree with OP. No nonsense clusterfucks. Cheap, quality Stafford and JCP dress clothes. Nothing great, but really nice for everyday work clothes.

They were heading in the right direction, now they cater to bottom feeders that can't remember prices.

Very true...I detest WalMart like the plague. It takes an Act of God to get me into one and everytime a little piece of me dies.

I like places like JC Penney when I am shopping everyday stuff...but now they don't have what I want. Places like Neiman Marcus and Saks are good, but even on sale their items are a bit beyond what I want to wear everyday in my engineering role where clothes get snagged, dirty and torn often.

 

[Fritzo]

JCPenney has really modernized their stores. If you haven't been to one in a while, go check it out.

I buy all of my work clothes from them because at the end of seasons they frequently have 70% off of dress shirts, pants, and shoes. A lot of times they have stackable coupons as well. You can't buy clothes from Walmart that cheap

 

[utahraptor]

I guess I don't understand why the everyday low price policy upset people. I think it would make it a lot easier to purchase things.

I was raised to only purchase items on clearance if possible and I still follow that advice. I usually pick stuff up at Kohl's when it is on final mark down. I don't really care about fashion however.

 

[Fritzo]

I guess I don't understand why the everyday low price policy upset people. I think it would make it a lot easier to purchase things.

I was raised to only purchase items on clearance if possible and I still follow that advice. I usually pick stuff up at Kohl's when it is on final mark down. I don't really care about fashion however.

They took 10% off of the regular prices---which isn't much. When you sell some items at a steep discount and then buy one or two regular priced items, you feel like you're getting a better deal.

Most of the stuff I buy and JCP is 50% off or more.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

You want to talk about ruining their brand name, let's start discussing Sears and the Craftsman sellout. Even hand tools are now being made overseas. I'm talking combination wrenches. I was shopping for toolboxes last year. The Craftsman stuff is absolute garbage. Yes they are having to compete with Harbor Freight, but if I'm going to be buying made in China garbage, then I'm not going to pay Sears prices. And the funny thing is, the HF toolboxes are actually REALLY good. Their orange boxes are easily on par with Craftsman's top of the line boxes.

Their penny pinching executives decided they needed to dumb down their products in order to compete on price. It made sense to them somewhere in the math. But they forgot to include in the proper value for the Craftsman name when doing the calculations. Now they are shit. I'll head to HF or craigslist the next time I need a tool.

Except for the fact that I can return any damaged tool to sears for a replacement. I'd like to see u try that at hf.

 

[SSSnail]

You want to talk about ruining their brand name, let's start discussing Sears and the Craftsman sellout. Even hand tools are now being made overseas. I'm talking combination wrenches. I was shopping for toolboxes last year. The Craftsman stuff is absolute garbage. Yes they are having to compete with Harbor Freight, but if I'm going to be buying made in China garbage, then I'm not going to pay Sears prices. And the funny thing is, the HF toolboxes are actually REALLY good. Their orange boxes are easily on par with Craftsman's top of the line boxes.

Their penny pinching executives decided they needed to dumb down their products in order to compete on price. It made sense to them somewhere in the math. But they forgot to include in the proper value for the Craftsman name when doing the calculations. Now they are shit. I'll head to HF or craigslist the next time I need a tool.

There are still Craftsman tools that are made in USA, you just have to pay more for them. And those are lifetime guaranteed, so I have no idea what you're bitching about.

 

[Imp]

Sounds like the opposite of the Gap. Gap used to have sales every week-ish or two. Now it's practically every day of the week, and last I checked, sales have never been better.

 

[alkemyst]

There are still Craftsman tools that are made in USA, you just have to pay more for them. And those are lifetime guaranteed, so I have no idea what you're bitching about.

Also not everything made overseas is inferior to USA made anymore.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

nope. its ok for businesses to rise and fall in a healthy economy.

 

[Meghan54]

That old CEO was full on retard. Not only did remove sales but he tried to steal Martha Stewart from Macy's. Good move dimwit get yourself in a huge lawsuit.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/04/08/ron-johnson-penney-ceo/2064723/

I don't know if stealing is the correct term to use. JCP approached Martha Stewart's company and negotiated a deal. No stealing found. If anything, Martha Stewart is as complicit in the debacle of JCP and Macy's as JCP is....Martha Stewart should have refused the deal in the first place if there truly was an exclusive deal with Macy's, beyond what KMart has.

And, btw, JCP bought ~16.8% of the Martha Stewart company after the deal between JCP and MS was inked. So again, no stealing really found.

And in the lawsuit, there is an exemption for Martha Stewart selling goods in other stores, as long as the store is a Martha Stewart store, so it seems that the intent was to set up Martha Stewart Living stores within each JCP, which would have let JCP skirt the contract MS had with Macy's.

Also, an appeals court upheld JCP continuing to sell Martha Stewart items, since the items were not labeled Martha Stewart specifically.


Oh, and all the bashing of Johnson and his "lack of knowledge of clothing retailers", here's a bolt of lightning. Prior to his work at Apple, he revamped Target and led its efforts to partner with big-name designers and brands. So it seems Johnson did have prior experience with clothing retailers and did well, just miscalculated the demographic who shopped JCP and what his actions would produce.

 

[evident]

You want to talk about ruining their brand name, let's start discussing Sears and the Craftsman sellout. Even hand tools are now being made overseas. I'm talking combination wrenches. I was shopping for toolboxes last year. The Craftsman stuff is absolute garbage. Yes they are having to compete with Harbor Freight, but if I'm going to be buying made in China garbage, then I'm not going to pay Sears prices. And the funny thing is, the HF toolboxes are actually REALLY good. Their orange boxes are easily on par with Craftsman's top of the line boxes.

Their penny pinching executives decided they needed to dumb down their products in order to compete on price. It made sense to them somewhere in the math. But they forgot to include in the proper value for the Craftsman name when doing the calculations. Now they are shit. I'll head to HF or craigslist the next time I need a tool.

Can i ask what craftsman stuff you purchased, because most of the craftsman hand tools i purchased in the last 3 years are stamped made in the usa. all of my sockets, wrenches, ratchets, hand impact driver, sledge hammer, made in usa. Things like their jack stands, leveler, allen wrenches, and screw driver tips are made in china though.

 

[ultimatebob]

I haven't bought anything in a mall or retail store for about 3 years, except for groceries and a few must have immediately items, like solder, glue, wood, ammunition & long shelf life supplies for the bunker. Other than those things, I pretty much buy everything online.

Heh... Can we see pictures of the bunker? Was this Lola's idea?

 

[jimbob200521]

Just bought a new pair of New Balance shoes, shirt, and pair of jeans last week from JC Penny, signed up for a card and got 20% off my first purchase. Paid the card off before I left the store and plan to cancel soon. Saved me $20, so they're ok in my book.

 

[Wordplay]

Here in California, every JCPenny is getting a makeover, flooring, walls, ever since the CEO change, they started redoing all the stores here.

That was in the works for years. A few people I know have stated the remodeling of stores was suppose to happen two years ago and was in planning for more than 5.

 

[SamQuint]

I loved JCPenney back in the day.

They used to be a huge catalog company. Anything that you ever wanted was in the catalog and they used to offer free shipping to the stores.

They also had great store brands like Towncraft and Stafford. (yes they were nothing to brag about) They were just store branded clothes that used to be very good quality and a good price. Hell some of their stuff lasted longer that the fancier name brands.

But that was in the 70-80s. Once they reached the 90's they went downhill.

The new stores are trying to get fancy with bringing in all their name brand junk. I guess they are trying to compete with the Macy's and Nordstroms of the world. But guess what? That is not their customer base. They need to go for the folks in the middle. Those that want something better that Walmart but more affordable that Macy's. Kohl's is doing that right now. They seem to cater well to those folks.